“I think Peyton Manning deserves better than that,” Aikman said. “There’s a reason why the Colts were able to draft Peyton Manning back in 1998: Because they were the worst team in football.

“The Colts have been relevant during the time of Peyton Manning’s career, and the reason for that is because of Peyton Manning.”

Irsay told USA Today this week that he was disappointed that the Colts won just one Super Bowl during Manning’s tenure while the Giants, Patriots and Steelers won multiple titles.

"You make the playoffs 11 times (with Manning), and you're out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this," motioning to his finger where a Super Bowl ring would go.

Irsay spoke with reporters Wednesday, and while he didn’t back down from what he said, he also tried to clarify that he was faulting the organization, not Manning, for the team’s shortcomings.

“I don’t see where there was one negative comment made by me,” Irsay said (NFL Network aired his latest comments). “Again, you’re talking about your organizational philosophy when you talk about how you’re building your team. That’s not a comment based toward Peyton or anything like that. What he means to me personally, to the city, to the state, our franchise, is just incredible.”

NFL Network's Albert Breer reported that Irsay said he called Manning on Wednesday but had not received a response.

The guy Irasy now seems to be pushing toward the bus is former general manager Bill Polian, who isn't about to take it lying down.

"We didn't win multiple Super Bowls. But I think we did a hell of a lot to make the city and state of Indiana proud — on and off the field," Polian told USA Today on Wednesday. "And here's the most important thing of all — and it goes unfortunately unspoken because of the focus on the Super Bowl and the failure to win more than one Super Bowl: We did it — and Peyton did it — the right way, honestly, fairly and squarely."

Oh, and yes, the Colts host the Broncos on Sunday Night Football this weekend.